I just took a test at work and finally feel free now that is over to think creatively again but as I sit on my front porch (which is usually a breeding ground for the blog) I seem to have writers blog.
I guess I could blog about getting pulled over today for having no license plate or turn signals on the motobike but that is just a downer but I guess one way to look at it is that I was weaving through traffic at about 15 mph above the speed limit and even though they said that wasn't a good idea I only got a ticket for having no turn signals... oh well.
Now that weddings are over and the motobike is running again I am also feeling the need to get back to biking to work... but of course have to see how that goes
Hopefully I will get inspired soon have to see
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Community
Community is the essence of what a good life is I think.
Whether the community is based around a church or an organization or just a bunch of people who share a common interest in building a life together.
One really cool example is right behind the coffee shop I am sitting in right now.
It is a community that was built with the intentional purpose of building a neighborhood where people will naturally interact together. It has community Gardens and a public workshop and all the houses face towards the center common area. Also the Garages are not attached so that people have to go out their front door and walk past all the other houses so they will see their neighbors frequently.
My mind keeps twisting and turning around the idea of community...
Thinking what is the point of having a church if you do not have a community surrounding it. Why do people develop churches with the purpose of attracting people from all over the city instead of developing pocket churches in different parts of town so that people will be staying in their communities instead of going out of them to go to church.
One of my friends said this weekend that in reality you should be able to walk to the church you go to or at the most take a little jaunt on a bike to get there. Church is not about the message or the doctrine as it is about the relationship you form with the other people there.
People who are not already in church will be attracted by the community they see, not by a perfect message or a stellar building (well maybe but the community will get them to stay.)
I have talked to people before about Christian communities but really it should be about people investing in the community that we live in and then building a community of people of all creeds not hiding away from the world.
Whether the community is based around a church or an organization or just a bunch of people who share a common interest in building a life together.
One really cool example is right behind the coffee shop I am sitting in right now.
It is a community that was built with the intentional purpose of building a neighborhood where people will naturally interact together. It has community Gardens and a public workshop and all the houses face towards the center common area. Also the Garages are not attached so that people have to go out their front door and walk past all the other houses so they will see their neighbors frequently.
My mind keeps twisting and turning around the idea of community...
Thinking what is the point of having a church if you do not have a community surrounding it. Why do people develop churches with the purpose of attracting people from all over the city instead of developing pocket churches in different parts of town so that people will be staying in their communities instead of going out of them to go to church.
One of my friends said this weekend that in reality you should be able to walk to the church you go to or at the most take a little jaunt on a bike to get there. Church is not about the message or the doctrine as it is about the relationship you form with the other people there.
People who are not already in church will be attracted by the community they see, not by a perfect message or a stellar building (well maybe but the community will get them to stay.)
I have talked to people before about Christian communities but really it should be about people investing in the community that we live in and then building a community of people of all creeds not hiding away from the world.
Sunday, April 20, 2008
God
Listening to the neighbors fight and watching apple smoke rise up in to the air.
My thoughts drifted to my life and if I am actually more satisfied with it when I can see the hand of God in it or whether my life would be any different if it was God focused instead of me focused.
I am at the point where I feel like I could be just as satisfied with it whether God is in it or not, traveling around, making friends, seeing the world and experiencing nature.
I can pull off making people think that I am at least somewhat focused on what God might want for my life and how I can serve him, but do I really care???
Are the people who I know who are Christians really any happier, any more joyful, anymore driven towards anything. I almost feel like the majority of people look to God in there life because
1. It will make them feel like better people.
2. It is what they have always done.
3. They feel like it is the best place to get a sense of community and not feel alone in the world.
I really do not know if any of this is true, but I know that when I am involved in a church or seeking to know God better at the root of it all is the desire to be living in a community of other people. Where people are sharing everything and being willing to sacrifice what they have for other people.
Sometimes I see this in the church, but many times I see it in other places.
The desire to know and to be truly known by other people. To be accepted for who you are without regard to your faults.
True community is hard to find and I feel that I rarely see it in the church.
I admit in this that there are a number of people that I have no desire to get to know or to be known by. I tend to be judgmental of people who seek after status and riches or who think that they have to have the best when really they should be able to be happy with much much less. Maybe some of these people are seeking to replace relationships in their lives with these things, I guess I do not really know.
One of the things that has meaning to me and makes me feel that my life is worth something is being creative, building things, bringing ideas to life, but this can never replace the relationships I have with people.
Can it replace a relationship with God??
I think so...
But I am still trying to determine where that fits in my life and if it is really true. I always feel more satisfied with my life when I am being creative and have community in my life regardless whether I am seeking after God or not.
Does it really matter???
My thoughts drifted to my life and if I am actually more satisfied with it when I can see the hand of God in it or whether my life would be any different if it was God focused instead of me focused.
I am at the point where I feel like I could be just as satisfied with it whether God is in it or not, traveling around, making friends, seeing the world and experiencing nature.
I can pull off making people think that I am at least somewhat focused on what God might want for my life and how I can serve him, but do I really care???
Are the people who I know who are Christians really any happier, any more joyful, anymore driven towards anything. I almost feel like the majority of people look to God in there life because
1. It will make them feel like better people.
2. It is what they have always done.
3. They feel like it is the best place to get a sense of community and not feel alone in the world.
I really do not know if any of this is true, but I know that when I am involved in a church or seeking to know God better at the root of it all is the desire to be living in a community of other people. Where people are sharing everything and being willing to sacrifice what they have for other people.
Sometimes I see this in the church, but many times I see it in other places.
The desire to know and to be truly known by other people. To be accepted for who you are without regard to your faults.
True community is hard to find and I feel that I rarely see it in the church.
I admit in this that there are a number of people that I have no desire to get to know or to be known by. I tend to be judgmental of people who seek after status and riches or who think that they have to have the best when really they should be able to be happy with much much less. Maybe some of these people are seeking to replace relationships in their lives with these things, I guess I do not really know.
One of the things that has meaning to me and makes me feel that my life is worth something is being creative, building things, bringing ideas to life, but this can never replace the relationships I have with people.
Can it replace a relationship with God??
I think so...
But I am still trying to determine where that fits in my life and if it is really true. I always feel more satisfied with my life when I am being creative and have community in my life regardless whether I am seeking after God or not.
Does it really matter???
Sunday, April 13, 2008
The Greenest of the All
This weekend I went to my Grandma's birthday party.
I sat reminiscing with my family about my Grandma and as I sat there I realized my Grandma is the most environmentally responsible person I know.
What is ironic about this is that my Grandma is not at all focused on or interested in environmentalism.
She reuses everything and rarely buys anything new. She even reuses the cartons she gets meat in...
She grows most of her own vegetables or buys them locally.
Instead of buying new Christmas presents for us she would go to the thrift store and buy us books she thought we would like.
Even though my Grandma can be seen as tight she may be a great example of what an environmentalist really needs to be like.
I sat reminiscing with my family about my Grandma and as I sat there I realized my Grandma is the most environmentally responsible person I know.
What is ironic about this is that my Grandma is not at all focused on or interested in environmentalism.
She reuses everything and rarely buys anything new. She even reuses the cartons she gets meat in...
She grows most of her own vegetables or buys them locally.
Instead of buying new Christmas presents for us she would go to the thrift store and buy us books she thought we would like.
Even though my Grandma can be seen as tight she may be a great example of what an environmentalist really needs to be like.
Tuesday, April 08, 2008
the smooth motion of the city
I sit on my back porch, contemplating my life as I smoke the hookah and listen to the sounds of downtown with a little bit of Zero 7 in the background at least for a little while.
I am inspired but at the same time distracted as I watch the smoke cascade out of my lungs up into the night air. I wonder how my dreams for what my life will become will come to pass.
I realize that even as I sit hear another second of my life has passed by and I think of all the ideas I've had and wonder why I have never really followed any of my dreams before this year.
I think that the last time I followed a dream was when I came out to Colorado in 2001 to work at Eagle Lake as a bike camp director. Actually maybe not, I think that going to Baja was following through with a dream.
Now the dreams I have of creating and building have begun to take over my life in the past couple months. I have to figure out how to put my ideas and my creativity into action or I think eventually part of my soul will dye.
So many of my decisions in the past have been reacting to what has happened in my life not really being motivated by any driving force besides the flow of life around me.
Now I am driven, not by the job that I have just to pay off debt or the guilt that I sometimes let drive me to distraction but by the need to let the creativity I have inside of me come out, to take every idea that I have and work it through and not let it go dormant. Dormancy and floating through life are not a way to live...
I must let the dreams I have for my life flow out of me and not be held back by circumstances or the expectations of others.
Freedom is just around the corner!!!!
I am inspired but at the same time distracted as I watch the smoke cascade out of my lungs up into the night air. I wonder how my dreams for what my life will become will come to pass.
I realize that even as I sit hear another second of my life has passed by and I think of all the ideas I've had and wonder why I have never really followed any of my dreams before this year.
I think that the last time I followed a dream was when I came out to Colorado in 2001 to work at Eagle Lake as a bike camp director. Actually maybe not, I think that going to Baja was following through with a dream.
Now the dreams I have of creating and building have begun to take over my life in the past couple months. I have to figure out how to put my ideas and my creativity into action or I think eventually part of my soul will dye.
So many of my decisions in the past have been reacting to what has happened in my life not really being motivated by any driving force besides the flow of life around me.
Now I am driven, not by the job that I have just to pay off debt or the guilt that I sometimes let drive me to distraction but by the need to let the creativity I have inside of me come out, to take every idea that I have and work it through and not let it go dormant. Dormancy and floating through life are not a way to live...
I must let the dreams I have for my life flow out of me and not be held back by circumstances or the expectations of others.
Freedom is just around the corner!!!!
Monday, March 10, 2008
Samoa has a friend
Finally after all the months of waiting Samoa has a friend.
He joined the house about 2 weeks ago and has made a permanent dent in the closet floor. His greeness the Green Demon is slowly getting to the point where he can roll again on his own and is not being carried around by a groaning, struggling master anymore.
He is still heavy and somewhat ungainly but he is coming together.
Samoa will be happy to have a friend!! =)
He joined the house about 2 weeks ago and has made a permanent dent in the closet floor. His greeness the Green Demon is slowly getting to the point where he can roll again on his own and is not being carried around by a groaning, struggling master anymore.
He is still heavy and somewhat ungainly but he is coming together.
Samoa will be happy to have a friend!! =)
Sunday, September 02, 2007
The Dark Side
Dexter's Laboratory is one of my favorite cartoons on TV. We don't have cable so I turned to the internet to download a couple episodes to watch in my free time. Little did I know that there are two shows with the name Dexter. Of course I downloaded the non-cartoon show by accident. Out of curiosity I watched it. It was kind've freaky and weird but intriguing.
The second Dexter is a show that aired on Showtime last year about a forensic blood specialist at a Miami police department. Sounds like another CSI copy or something like that, right??? It has a little twist Dexter happens to be a serial killer. In many ways, the classic anti-hero. He is a nice guy and He only kills the bad guys... Guys who are murdering innocent people.
All the previous things made the show interesting, but that is not what really drew me. Dexter hides the inner killer inside him from everyone around him. He lets no one see who he really is. He puts on a facade to hide the darkness in his soul. He is afraid the world will reject him if they know who he really is.
I think that most people in the world want to be loved by someone. I also think that most people in the world hide a darkness in their soul from everyone around them. I know I do. I put such extreme boundaries around certain areas of my life that it has effected the way I relate to people.
When I look back at the past 6-7 years I can see the wall around the darkness in my soul building higher and higher. I even remeber the first day the wall started going up between God, me and other people around me. I was so ashamed of what was in my heart that I did not want anyone to see it. (Regardless of the fact that I knew God would see it) I dissauded myself to the point where I built a wall so high that I figured it was easier to just drop any desire i had for God then to tear down the wall.
Last night it clicked that one of the reasons I harbored no desire to get close to God was because I did not want to let him see behind the wall. Actually, I should rephrase the previous statement. I desired God, but I would no let him inside the wall. I acknowledged parts of the wall to some of my friends. I asked God to help me stop the actions that resulted from the darkness in my heart without inviting him to see behind the wall and to help me beat down the darkness in my soul and turn it into light.
I wrote about simplifying my life in the past couple posts. I think that more then anything else I could do to simplify me life; tearing down the wall around the darkness in my heart and letting God see it and help me with it would simplify my life more then anything else.
The second Dexter is a show that aired on Showtime last year about a forensic blood specialist at a Miami police department. Sounds like another CSI copy or something like that, right??? It has a little twist Dexter happens to be a serial killer. In many ways, the classic anti-hero. He is a nice guy and He only kills the bad guys... Guys who are murdering innocent people.
All the previous things made the show interesting, but that is not what really drew me. Dexter hides the inner killer inside him from everyone around him. He lets no one see who he really is. He puts on a facade to hide the darkness in his soul. He is afraid the world will reject him if they know who he really is.
I think that most people in the world want to be loved by someone. I also think that most people in the world hide a darkness in their soul from everyone around them. I know I do. I put such extreme boundaries around certain areas of my life that it has effected the way I relate to people.
When I look back at the past 6-7 years I can see the wall around the darkness in my soul building higher and higher. I even remeber the first day the wall started going up between God, me and other people around me. I was so ashamed of what was in my heart that I did not want anyone to see it. (Regardless of the fact that I knew God would see it) I dissauded myself to the point where I built a wall so high that I figured it was easier to just drop any desire i had for God then to tear down the wall.
Last night it clicked that one of the reasons I harbored no desire to get close to God was because I did not want to let him see behind the wall. Actually, I should rephrase the previous statement. I desired God, but I would no let him inside the wall. I acknowledged parts of the wall to some of my friends. I asked God to help me stop the actions that resulted from the darkness in my heart without inviting him to see behind the wall and to help me beat down the darkness in my soul and turn it into light.
I wrote about simplifying my life in the past couple posts. I think that more then anything else I could do to simplify me life; tearing down the wall around the darkness in my heart and letting God see it and help me with it would simplify my life more then anything else.
Saturday, September 01, 2007
No Car, No Loft but a simpler life
Last month I was looking at buying a loft up in Victor, Colorado...
The lofts were beautiful, well designed and the views were awe inspiring, but I went up to aunt and uncles house after I looked at the lofts. As i was sitting around watching TV that night i realized that the lofts went against a couple of the goals i have for my life.
The first goal was to simplify my life. Not to take away any of the fun I have or cool experiences , but to take things out of my life that I have just because I am supposed to have them... For instance a car to get to work in the winter or a yard that has actual grass in it.
The second goal was to get rid of my car and all the extra bikes I had. I drove my car a total of about 20 miles in August. I am still working on the bikes. I gave my bike rack away to clint, a friend who just moved to New Mexico. I am going to sell a couple frames and parts of bike racks on craig's list also.
I realized that 95% of the time, The Traveler and single speed mountain bike are all I need.
I really need a car about 3 days a month at the most and I can rent a car for those days.
The third goal was to use my bikes for everything except for a couple trips to work and when I travel out of town. I think that that goal is also totally possible.
To bring all this to a point... Buying the loft in victor, no matter how cool, goes against all that.
It is not that I am some crazy environmentalist or anything, but if I do not need to drive a car 60 miles each way and I can help out little by riding my bike to work why not. I guess now that I am selling my car I will see how the experiment works.
The lofts were beautiful, well designed and the views were awe inspiring, but I went up to aunt and uncles house after I looked at the lofts. As i was sitting around watching TV that night i realized that the lofts went against a couple of the goals i have for my life.
The first goal was to simplify my life. Not to take away any of the fun I have or cool experiences , but to take things out of my life that I have just because I am supposed to have them... For instance a car to get to work in the winter or a yard that has actual grass in it.
The second goal was to get rid of my car and all the extra bikes I had. I drove my car a total of about 20 miles in August. I am still working on the bikes. I gave my bike rack away to clint, a friend who just moved to New Mexico. I am going to sell a couple frames and parts of bike racks on craig's list also.
I realized that 95% of the time, The Traveler and single speed mountain bike are all I need.
I really need a car about 3 days a month at the most and I can rent a car for those days.
The third goal was to use my bikes for everything except for a couple trips to work and when I travel out of town. I think that that goal is also totally possible.
To bring all this to a point... Buying the loft in victor, no matter how cool, goes against all that.
It is not that I am some crazy environmentalist or anything, but if I do not need to drive a car 60 miles each way and I can help out little by riding my bike to work why not. I guess now that I am selling my car I will see how the experiment works.
Friday, August 10, 2007
A loft, a post, a thought about life in general...
In Victor, Colorado an architect built some lofts. They are 50 miles away from my job, but the first time I saw a picture of one I knew that it would be worth the drive. Tomorrow, I am meeting the realtor to actually go inside the lofts and take a look. Jev and I road up to Cripple Creek and victor last week and glanced in them to see if they exuded the same cool design in person that was shown on the web. Loft pictures
On that same note I decided to simplify life and get rid of all my bicycles except my fixie and my single speed. They are the bikes i love and ride the most. Why would I need anything else??? I have ridden my fixie to work twice since it finally gained a front brake. I have decided that Samoa is to pretty a name for her. The Traveler is a much more fitting name considering how gritty and tough she is (and also how fast she eats crank arms for breakfast).
Work should not dominate your life. Life should dominate work. So if you love what you do and it is your passion make it a major part of your life, but if your don't, then live life to the fullest and let work fund the life that you love. I guess I say this because, lately I have beeen thinking that i do not hate work but it is there to fund the life that the Lord is leading me to live. I can incorporate it into my life but only in the relationships I have and hopefully encouraging people to save for retirement so that the will have the freedom to serve others with there free time when they retire instead of having to work till they are 80.
What a great revelation, my thoughts about work never crossed the boundary of actually furthering peoples ability to serve in there retirement. That definitely gives me some inspiration for work...
On that same note I decided to simplify life and get rid of all my bicycles except my fixie and my single speed. They are the bikes i love and ride the most. Why would I need anything else??? I have ridden my fixie to work twice since it finally gained a front brake. I have decided that Samoa is to pretty a name for her. The Traveler is a much more fitting name considering how gritty and tough she is (and also how fast she eats crank arms for breakfast).
Work should not dominate your life. Life should dominate work. So if you love what you do and it is your passion make it a major part of your life, but if your don't, then live life to the fullest and let work fund the life that you love. I guess I say this because, lately I have beeen thinking that i do not hate work but it is there to fund the life that the Lord is leading me to live. I can incorporate it into my life but only in the relationships I have and hopefully encouraging people to save for retirement so that the will have the freedom to serve others with there free time when they retire instead of having to work till they are 80.
What a great revelation, my thoughts about work never crossed the boundary of actually furthering peoples ability to serve in there retirement. That definitely gives me some inspiration for work...
Wednesday, June 20, 2007
Looking for a small house
So I have been looking for a house for the past couple months. The whole time I have been trying to decide how much space do I actually need... Then I think back to the house that I live in currently with my roomates and realized that outside of where we sleep I only use perhaps three rooms most of the time... The bathroom, kitchen and living room. Do i really need anything more (well maybe a big porch to hang out outside on) No!!!!
And because of that I have started to look at smaller solutions. One of the main ones is the weehouse It is pretty cool. Follow the link and you will see what I mean. Once again the search for land is on. I am looking for some land around 30000 to plop the weehouse studio on and then add on bedrooms later as the need arises. I love the idea of a multi building house situated around a courtyard.
The only problem that arises with this so far is that if both buildings are built around a courtyard then one of the buildings cannot face south, which makes for a crappy energy efficiency.
I think reducing how much room that you need to live should be something more americans focus on. We tend to have such large footprints because we drive large cars have houses that are twice the size that we need and then wonder why we can barely afford what we have.
And because of that I have started to look at smaller solutions. One of the main ones is the weehouse It is pretty cool. Follow the link and you will see what I mean. Once again the search for land is on. I am looking for some land around 30000 to plop the weehouse studio on and then add on bedrooms later as the need arises. I love the idea of a multi building house situated around a courtyard.
The only problem that arises with this so far is that if both buildings are built around a courtyard then one of the buildings cannot face south, which makes for a crappy energy efficiency.
I think reducing how much room that you need to live should be something more americans focus on. We tend to have such large footprints because we drive large cars have houses that are twice the size that we need and then wonder why we can barely afford what we have.
Thursday, June 14, 2007
a Dart ----->
Ok it doesn't really dart, maybe a better word would be cruises. But it is a car that I can love. It has character. The jeep was a bland middle age person that was about to have a heart attack. The Dart is a old person that still has lots of spunk and is someone that even with there eccentricities you can sit down and talk to for hours.
Below is a picture of her. She just got a bike rack put on her and she is still supplying me with
a constant diet of talk radio and mexican polka.!!
Tuesday, June 05, 2007
Screw Green Houses... Right????
I just read a great quote today. Read and ponder...
"Trading in your conventional downtown apartment and constructing a state-of-the-art eco-house in the country may sound good for you and the planet. However the 'Think Green' bumper sticker won't change the fact that you are probably wasting more energy and creating additional air pollution on the two hour daily commute than you'll ever save living the rest of your life in that spiffy new house" (Clark Snell in the Good House Book)
Makes alot of sense doesn't it.
"Trading in your conventional downtown apartment and constructing a state-of-the-art eco-house in the country may sound good for you and the planet. However the 'Think Green' bumper sticker won't change the fact that you are probably wasting more energy and creating additional air pollution on the two hour daily commute than you'll ever save living the rest of your life in that spiffy new house" (Clark Snell in the Good House Book)
Makes alot of sense doesn't it.
Sunday, June 03, 2007
Motobiking and mountain biking
While these are not necessarily the top 3 things I love in this world, they are probably in the top 20 if not the top 10.
This week has been stupendoulous...
A couple of my friends have been telling me how great the mountain biking is on the air force academy.
I finally went on the Falcon trail today with my friend Allison and it was amazing. There was a ton if climbing but the trail swooped and swerved to the trees and reminded me of all the trails I loved in Tennessee. In Colorado trails like this do not exist. I can think of maybe 2 I've done that involve both trees and twisting and turning. As if it couldn't get any better, it is within easy biking distance from my house (4 miles up the bike path)
My motorcycle set in the garage for the past 2 weeks.
I totally screwed up.
I kept putting off getting the tire for it and all of a sudden I could see metal in the middle of the tire. Always a crappy thing to see. I love my motobike. She keeps me from needing a car... She is beautiful... and I love her.
On Wednesday her tire came in and I rushed to get it put on and I drove my motobike everywhere saturday. For some reason leaning into a turn is so much more soothing then having to turn the wheel of a car...
This week has been stupendoulous...
A couple of my friends have been telling me how great the mountain biking is on the air force academy.
I finally went on the Falcon trail today with my friend Allison and it was amazing. There was a ton if climbing but the trail swooped and swerved to the trees and reminded me of all the trails I loved in Tennessee. In Colorado trails like this do not exist. I can think of maybe 2 I've done that involve both trees and twisting and turning. As if it couldn't get any better, it is within easy biking distance from my house (4 miles up the bike path)
My motorcycle set in the garage for the past 2 weeks.
I totally screwed up.
I kept putting off getting the tire for it and all of a sudden I could see metal in the middle of the tire. Always a crappy thing to see. I love my motobike. She keeps me from needing a car... She is beautiful... and I love her.
On Wednesday her tire came in and I rushed to get it put on and I drove my motobike everywhere saturday. For some reason leaning into a turn is so much more soothing then having to turn the wheel of a car...
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
light, sound, touch
The interplay of light, sound, and touch are critical to every aspect of our lives.
Riding Samoa home last night, every little flicker of light on the path was welcome. My eyes darted every which way for the first 10 minutes after leaveing poor richard's. Slowly, as as I came back onto sections of the trail that i recognized, the tension started to ease and I basked in the cool night air gliding past my face.
In a book I've been reading about green houses (not green garden houses, houses with green construction methods) the author talks about what the human body needs to live. One of those needs is light. Not just a lamp or a chandelier that hangs in the dining room, but natural light. I think that when most humans are depressed they stay in dark places.
Not outside where there is a breeze blowing past you as you stare at the night sky, but a place with no air movement or sound .
Sound
the cracking of spokes as they settle in on a new bicycle wheel or the creak of a crank that will almost fall off when I get home from the ride to poor richard's.
the rush of gravel against smooth tires calms the soul...
The creak of the cranks make my heart race as I think of walking home 5 miles in the dark in my bike shoes.
The woosh, crunch, crunch of the tires against the gravel and sand makes takes all the cares of my soul away and lets me flow down the path without a care in the world.
Now if it would just stop raining I could go again tonight... A screw it I'm going tonight anyway
Samoa waits quietly in the garage for the ride downtown tonight.
Riding Samoa home last night, every little flicker of light on the path was welcome. My eyes darted every which way for the first 10 minutes after leaveing poor richard's. Slowly, as as I came back onto sections of the trail that i recognized, the tension started to ease and I basked in the cool night air gliding past my face.
In a book I've been reading about green houses (not green garden houses, houses with green construction methods) the author talks about what the human body needs to live. One of those needs is light. Not just a lamp or a chandelier that hangs in the dining room, but natural light. I think that when most humans are depressed they stay in dark places.
Not outside where there is a breeze blowing past you as you stare at the night sky, but a place with no air movement or sound .
Sound
the cracking of spokes as they settle in on a new bicycle wheel or the creak of a crank that will almost fall off when I get home from the ride to poor richard's.
the rush of gravel against smooth tires calms the soul...
The creak of the cranks make my heart race as I think of walking home 5 miles in the dark in my bike shoes.
The woosh, crunch, crunch of the tires against the gravel and sand makes takes all the cares of my soul away and lets me flow down the path without a care in the world.
Now if it would just stop raining I could go again tonight... A screw it I'm going tonight anyway
Samoa waits quietly in the garage for the ride downtown tonight.
Tuesday, May 22, 2007
The Fixie (Samoa)
Scary.... Dark.... Hard to stop.... Smooooooooth
The ride downtown on the somewhat sketchy bike trail is incredibly soothing.
Definitely more fun on the paved sections than the gravel (I think that is the first time I've ever said that) .
Going home I think I will need to take the ipod off and enjoy the sounds of the night with the quiet of the fixie in the background.
I rode from the house down to poor richard's coffee shop. I never realized the joy of riding down a bike path by yourself in the middle of the night. No cars rushing past. No technical drop around the next corner (I hope) No people, or hardly any, to pop out in front of me.
A fixie id great for thinking. The bike and I were wrestling each other for control, but at the same time supremely enjoying each others presence.
Oh yeah!! I named my fixie Samoa. So I think I will have to call her Sam for short. She is getting ridden again and taken care for the first time in a many years. Sam is smooth, light and somewhat scary since I am not totally in control of her.
A chill goes through me everytime I get on her. I am not sure if it's from pleasure, fear or both...
The ride downtown on the somewhat sketchy bike trail is incredibly soothing.
Definitely more fun on the paved sections than the gravel (I think that is the first time I've ever said that) .
Going home I think I will need to take the ipod off and enjoy the sounds of the night with the quiet of the fixie in the background.
I rode from the house down to poor richard's coffee shop. I never realized the joy of riding down a bike path by yourself in the middle of the night. No cars rushing past. No technical drop around the next corner (I hope) No people, or hardly any, to pop out in front of me.
A fixie id great for thinking. The bike and I were wrestling each other for control, but at the same time supremely enjoying each others presence.
Oh yeah!! I named my fixie Samoa. So I think I will have to call her Sam for short. She is getting ridden again and taken care for the first time in a many years. Sam is smooth, light and somewhat scary since I am not totally in control of her.
A chill goes through me everytime I get on her. I am not sure if it's from pleasure, fear or both...
Wednesday, May 16, 2007
Moab in a parking lot
Moab is a beautiful, harsh playground.
We started out the weekend sprawled in a line of sleeping bags trying to block out the sounds of cars roaring past us. We arrived in moab at 4 in the morning on saturday with a list of campsites. You would think that there would be one free campsite in 10 campgrounds, right??? If a open campsite existed, we could not find it. We pulled over into the raft put in, in Castle Canyon and crashed in the parking lot. (In the picture the road is in the background...)
We headed into town to get all the supplies we forgot. Big surprise for those of you who know me, but in this case it was only ice and gum. I think Jamie might've needed some coffee but we were not about to let her have any.
One of my favorite things about going to moab is the water coming straight out of the side of the mt. The tap is always a lifesaver. Plus the water tastes sweet.
I wish we had a pic of the jeep we took. It looked like a wheelie would happen at any moment. Of course, 5 bikes, 5 people and assorted camping gear probably exceed anything rating a jeep would have for that sort of thing. On second thought I do have one!!
Anyway, with the nose of the jeep pointed skyword we headed out to the Klondike Bluff trail. Almost any trail in moab is cool, but the main features of the Klondike bluff trail are dinasour tracks and a breathtaking view of Arches National Monument. Outside of the rampart resoviour trail, I think this was probably one of the longest mountain bike rides the girls had ever done. This was Dave, Allison and Jamie's first experience with slick rock, and I know at least dave loved it, maybe it is just a guy thing to be awed at the terrain as much as the views.
And as a preview of the next episode please see the picture below. The next episode includes miller light and McDee's icecream at the same time!!!
Saturday, May 05, 2007
yurt living?
What is going to happen to the yurt??
As many people know... I have been looking for land to set a yurt up on for the past month or so. In the midst of all this I found this great little fixer upper out near palmer lake, co which is a really cool little town. The house had great views but in all reality was a piece of crap. I would've basically been tearing the whole roof off the house and gutting the inside which would've been a major undertaking considering I wanted to do it all myself. Luckily I got some good advice from a friend before I made any major decisions on it.
So back I go to building a yurt. My ideas are always so much bigger than anything that is feasible but I really am looking forward to building the yurt. My next step is to make sure that I can get it approved by the building department. I think that will actually be the hardest part of the whole process. I am going to draw up plans for the yurt later this week and take them down to the building department for a review. I think the next part will be the structural engineering aspect of the house. I will see. I am going to draw up 2 plans. One using
Wood sides and a Metal insulated roof and the other will be the traditional Yurt Structure. I think that I have a good chance of getting the wood sided yurt approved once I have a structural engineer look at the drawings. It would be alot more expensive then a regular yurt but if it could pass code i think it would be worth it. I think that I may try to use Bill Coperthwaite
which you can see below. It really a cool design and can be built in sections. You can see more pics of some of his yurts at Shelter Hub.
The yurt is really one of those things that I feel that I have to build for my own sanity. I love creating things and since my current job does not support being creative (at all) I think that building the yurt is one of the best ways to exercise at at least a little bit of the creativity that is bursting to get out.
It's kind've weird because I think that if I really examine my motives the desire to build the yurt overrides any financial gains that may be had by remodeling a house or anything like that. Guess I better order the plans for the yurt so I can get going on finding the land for it...
As many people know... I have been looking for land to set a yurt up on for the past month or so. In the midst of all this I found this great little fixer upper out near palmer lake, co which is a really cool little town. The house had great views but in all reality was a piece of crap. I would've basically been tearing the whole roof off the house and gutting the inside which would've been a major undertaking considering I wanted to do it all myself. Luckily I got some good advice from a friend before I made any major decisions on it.
So back I go to building a yurt. My ideas are always so much bigger than anything that is feasible but I really am looking forward to building the yurt. My next step is to make sure that I can get it approved by the building department. I think that will actually be the hardest part of the whole process. I am going to draw up plans for the yurt later this week and take them down to the building department for a review. I think the next part will be the structural engineering aspect of the house. I will see. I am going to draw up 2 plans. One using
Wood sides and a Metal insulated roof and the other will be the traditional Yurt Structure. I think that I have a good chance of getting the wood sided yurt approved once I have a structural engineer look at the drawings. It would be alot more expensive then a regular yurt but if it could pass code i think it would be worth it. I think that I may try to use Bill Coperthwaite
which you can see below. It really a cool design and can be built in sections. You can see more pics of some of his yurts at Shelter Hub. The yurt is really one of those things that I feel that I have to build for my own sanity. I love creating things and since my current job does not support being creative (at all) I think that building the yurt is one of the best ways to exercise at at least a little bit of the creativity that is bursting to get out.
It's kind've weird because I think that if I really examine my motives the desire to build the yurt overrides any financial gains that may be had by remodeling a house or anything like that. Guess I better order the plans for the yurt so I can get going on finding the land for it...
Sunday, April 22, 2007
Red Rocks open space, the govenment and trail building
Usually, I don't think that the government is really good at much of anything...
but in fact colorado springs government has made a couple great decisions. The first of which was their purchase of Red Rocks open space. Luckily, they did not ruin it. I was out at Red Rocks helping clear the corridor for a new trail and it was amazing how much fun it is to just work. Of course the volunteer opportunity came through the man, but still it is helping to build a trail. The greatest aspect of the day was the expertise of the girls heading up the trail building. I think that I learned more about good trail building on one day then I have in all the weeks I have helped out with trail building.
Go to Red Rocks open space the trails have great curves!!!
but in fact colorado springs government has made a couple great decisions. The first of which was their purchase of Red Rocks open space. Luckily, they did not ruin it. I was out at Red Rocks helping clear the corridor for a new trail and it was amazing how much fun it is to just work. Of course the volunteer opportunity came through the man, but still it is helping to build a trail. The greatest aspect of the day was the expertise of the girls heading up the trail building. I think that I learned more about good trail building on one day then I have in all the weeks I have helped out with trail building.
Go to Red Rocks open space the trails have great curves!!!
Tuesday, April 17, 2007
terror!!! where???
I know this will seem callous but while the shootings were a tragedy, the murders at Blacksburg should just put how safe the US is in perspective because so many other places in the world are so much worse off. Anywhere 32 people getting killed is horrible but places like Sudan and Iraq have so many more native people getting killed and we rarely hear about it. It is just like we see a daily countdown of soldiers killed in Iraq but was is the toll on the locals. How many 10's of thousands or hundreds of thousands are getting killed...
Tuesday, April 03, 2007
Back to Cactus
I am back...
When I was looking for a job I had changed my e-mail and cell phone to Eric which tends to get some really weird reactions. I went in and changed everything back today. I am now cactus again... Even at work!!!
On other notes the yurt still progresses. I have ordered a couple different plans and have been sketching different designs. I am excited... the possiblities are building up. Now to find the land with the perfect view.
When I was looking for a job I had changed my e-mail and cell phone to Eric which tends to get some really weird reactions. I went in and changed everything back today. I am now cactus again... Even at work!!!
On other notes the yurt still progresses. I have ordered a couple different plans and have been sketching different designs. I am excited... the possiblities are building up. Now to find the land with the perfect view.
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